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For the beer:
On the frig., I had a little paper under a magnet with a number on it.
The kids knew it was how many beers on hand,
and that number better jive up with the actual count.

The ocassional Whiskey bottle had a marks-a-lot line on the level in the bottle.
They understood it better not change,
and that I knew what watered down Whiskey tasted like.

On firearms:
My kids went shooting with me since they were big enough to stand up and help hold a Colt .45.
As they got bigger, they shot more and different weapons.
By age 12, they'd fired the .50BMG from a benchrest a few times too.
The guns were always locked in a high security vault, but there was no great mystery about them.

They'd bring a buddy and ask, "Dad, can we see 'such & such' rifle or pistol"?
I'd open the vault, let them see & handle it, oil it back down, and lock them up again.
They even helped me cast Lead bullets and we did alot of reloading together.
They saw what damage bullets could do to different things, what gunshots sounded like,
what dead animals look like, and what happens when you light off gunpowder by itself, etc.
The kids had fired most of them- several times a year,
and there was none of that 'forbidden fruit' shadow hanging over them.

That system worked for us.
The thing I watched more than anything was thier money & time, and where it went.
In our day and age,,,
kids can buy hard narcotics easier than they can plan & scheme to steal booze.
Or, if they're real clever & sneaky, just grow thier own 'smoking dope'.

.

I agree, this is the best way to do things. Educate your kids and give them some trust and responsibility, this is how I was raised and I stayed out of trouble.

Besides, if your kids are sneaking the occasional beer I wouldn't worry too much. What I would be worried about is them going out and getting completely wasted at a "party." If your kid wants to get his hands on alcohol, or other substances for that matter, it's not hard. It is also suprising how many parents have no idea what their kids are up to.

This is just what I have observed going through school, but I of course have no idea what the relationship between you and your kids is like, just my thoughts on the topic in general.

Thank you!

I just wanted to say (Thank You) for everyones input on this. I'm just trying to be safe with teens and them being new drivers in all. I was also raised with a trust system and It worked for me I never drank untill I was 21.

Sorry to have to say this...........that is one of the dumbest teaching tools I've every heard. What if your child or some other had come back to your place with some ammo some other father thought would be a great teaching tool also.

what if, what if.... yeah, yeah... It didn't. It worked, so it wasn't all that dumb.

Originally Posted by monte55

And if someone was hurt...........guess who is at fault not to mention a possible loss of life. My children never played with firearms of mine simply because they were safely put away.

Calling 911 takes seconds, waiting on the police can take the rest of your life.

Originally Posted by monte55

Sorry to be so harsh but this is serious business

I'm sorry that you dont take the protection of your family a bit more seriously.

Lets take some time out for education:

"In 2003, for the United States, the Centers for Disease Control reports that 28 children under age 10 died from accidental shots. With some 90 million gun owners and about 40 million children under 10." Wanna compare that to how many die at the hands of their own parents, or in car accidents?

"From 1995 to 2001 only about nine ...accidental gun deaths each year involve a child under 10 shooting another child or themselves. "

National Center for Health Statistics: "California has a trigger lock law and saw a 12% increase in fatal firearm accidents in 1994. Texas doesn't have one and experienced a 28% decrease.2 "Trigger-locks" do, however, render guns inaccessible for self-defense."

Now compare that to how many people that are murdered during home invasions each year.

I think more about protecting my family from others than I do protecting them from themselves.

I think more about protecting my family from others than I do protecting them from themselves.

Can't argue with that.

My handgun is stored with a full mag but a dummy round in the chamber well out of reach of my kid. Even if he could get it, he isn't strong enough to rack the slide yet. When he gets older, he'll be shooting it right beside me and have a full understanding of what pointing it at anything means.

Syncrowave 250DX
Invison 354MP
XR Control and 30AAirco MED20 feederThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 81Smith O/A rigAnd more machinery than you can shake a 7018 rod at

My handgun is stored with a full mag but a dummy round in the chamber well out of reach of my kid. Even if he could get it, he isn't strong enough to rack the slide yet. When he gets older, he'll be shooting it right beside me and have a full understanding of what pointing it at anything means.

Well said.

It & other posts sort of remind me to mention:
Down here in this part of the world,,,,,
we are proud, and will talk endlessly about our various arms---
many of them hand made, custom pieces, that often border on works of art.

But it seems, for one reason or another,
there's no need to discuss what's under the seat of your truck,
or what is always tucked, behind your belt, near the small of your back.

.

"Gone are the days of wooden ships, and Iron men.
I doubt we'll see either of their likes again".

Engloid...........I also have firearms. Four pistols and a rifle. I have no problem
with people owning firearms and support the right to. But I also think owners should be responsible for them. People are killed or wounded every day by guns that are too easily accessible. My guns are close by along with ammo.
out of sight, easy to get to but not loaded.
If you need to be ready at the drop of a hat should someone break in, why not keep all your firearms loaded? Maybe you could wear a pair of six shooters around the house. Just because you haven't had a problem doesn't
mean your way is correct. Where do you think the kids are getting the guns they take to school. Walmart? They may not get them from their own parent, but as stolen from someone else who was careless. The school and campus shootings are a prime example of what can happen when kids get depressed, snap, and have easy access to firearms. Remember the shooters here never did this before, just this first time and the last especially when they turn the weapon on themself. Why do you think no one attacks a school with explosives? It's locked away and laws won't let just anyone have it. But we have guns all over the place. Even hiding weapons under the seat of your
vehicle as some have stated here which is against the law. I think guns are cool. I love to target shoot. Don't hunt........never had much of a reason to kill something for sport.
Like I said before, I support the right to own firearms to sane and responsible
people. But it seems like just about every time I hear someone that owns lots of firearms and what comes out of their mouth........you'd think we were still living in the OLD WEST. They make their own laws and reasons to justify them and disregard our present laws if it doesn't suit them. Not all are like this but many.
One last thing........going by your chart, are you not letting your children drive? It is the most dangerous you know.

beer fridge lock

Well what started as a dad wanting to stop the kids from getting his beer while gone has went to a bunch of rules and regs about injurys and how much people get hurt and by what, which is not bad but you have to keep in mind IF THEY WANT IT BAD ENOUGH THEY WILL GET IT SOME WAY! I know this first hand from my younger days of drinking and smokeing dope and all it got me was a huge headace and broke the next day so I said to myself this has to stop and I did just that.

Now about the gun issue my dad and I have guns and hunted for years until he couldn't go any more then he gave me all the guns for me and my 2 boys 7 & 8yrs but they know not to play with them period!!!! and they are just fine but we also have some friends of oours who have to boys that have been around guns all there lives hunted,shot trap,skeet until one day there parents were called by the police as a result of a shooting at there house involving the boys which by the way were around 16-17yrs of age the one boy was shot near the hip-groin area and to this day not one of them will tell the truth as to what really happened, so it does'nt matter what you do to teach your kids right or wrong if they want somoething bad enough they will do whatever it takes to do it, BUT if your one of the lucky parents in this crazy world we live in that has trained your children up with good values and has not had any problems with them doing drugs,beer,meth or any other stuff you should be thankfull and give your kids a big hug and tell them you love them for that because that is very rare in this day and age.

Also I had a party at the folks house once when they went away after being told not to and come to find out some one helped them selves to the freezer which by the way dad had just bought a half of beef which was locked in the pole barn were yep your right I UNLOCKED IT FOR THE PARTY and didn't know it until the next day.

People are killed or wounded every day by guns that are too easily accessible. My guns are close by along with ammo.
out of sight, easy to get to but not loaded.

People are killed because they can't get to their gun or load it fast enough also.

Originally Posted by monte55

If you need to be ready at the drop of a hat should someone break in, why not keep all your firearms loaded?

I don't think I'd need ALL of them loaded.

Originally Posted by monte55

Maybe you could wear a pair of six shooters around the house.

Odds are that if somebody broke in, I would be in the bed. If not, I'm sure I could run and have my gun in my hand and have a couuple rounds into the person before you could get your trigger lock off and load it.

Originally Posted by monte55

Where do you think the kids are getting the guns they take to school. Walmart? They may not get them from their own parent, but as stolen from someone else who was careless.

There are places in the house that my kids are not allowed to go. For example, what business would they have in my bedroom? If I have a kid that's cutting him/herself, doing that stupid goth stuff, or other indicators are there, I will act accordingly. I don't think every kid needs to be given a gun for their birthday, or taught to shoot. If my kid's always in trouble, fighting, acting up, I would likely feel the danger of them getting my guns was greater than the need to protect the family from an external threat.

Originally Posted by monte55

The school and campus shootings are a prime example of what can happen when kids get depressed, snap, and have easy access to firearms. Remember the shooters here never did this before, just this first time and the last especially when they turn the weapon on themself.

How many had indicators of problems, such as poor grades, violent history at home, self-mutilation, or other things? ALL of them.

Originally Posted by monte55

Why do you think no one attacks a school with explosives?

Cause it's more work. You can buy ammo and black powder more easily than you can buy a gun. Some of these school shooters were found to have plans for bomb making.

Originally Posted by monte55

Even hiding weapons under the seat of your
vehicle as some have stated here which is against the law.

I dont know where you are, but it's not illegal here, if you have a permit to carry one.

Originally Posted by monte55

But it seems like just about every time I hear someone that owns lots of firearms and what comes out of their mouth........you'd think we were still living in the OLD WEST.

When the majority of people carried guns, we didn't have mass murders, did we?

Originally Posted by monte55

They make their own laws and reasons to justify them and disregard our present laws if it doesn't suit them. Not all are like this but many.

Personally, I'm 100% legal. I have no illegal guns, no stolen guns, and have the permit to carry legally. There's no need for me to break laws to protect myself and my family.

Originally Posted by monte55

One last thing........going by your chart, are you not letting your children drive? It is the most dangerous you know.

They're not old enough to drive, but they do swim...and drowning kills many more than firearms do. The point is that firearms aren't as common of a cause of death as many people make them out to be. They don't think twice about electrical outlets that are unprotected, or drowning, but worry about guns.

But, some people just like to think we're heading for a utopia where nobody will have guns. Myself, I'll gladly give up ALL my guns...just as soon as they can get all the guns from the criminals.